


Two Nuns Talking

by Arianllyn



Category: Supernatural
Genre: A/B/O dynamics (sort of);, But these are young children;, John Winchester's A+ Parenting;
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:40:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28667871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arianllyn/pseuds/Arianllyn
Summary: Among a group of children living in an orphanage at a convent, L.D. stands out as a cheerful, though frail, child. Abandoned to the convent by his father, who got the Reverend Mother to take him by the simple expedient of threatening to kill him if she didn't, L.D. is sweet, helpful, and kind, with beautiful green eyes and adorable freckles. The two nuns who work with the children during the day, Sister Mary Elizabeth and her new helper, Sister Mary Catherine, talk while the children are playing or taking naps, about the children's stories, what brought them to the convent, and the secret that drove L.D.'s father to leave him there.AU, where A/B/O dynamics exist, and children can be tested to determine their secondary gender at the age of 3, though they don't present until much later, and omegas are considered by some to be 'weak' and a 'corrupt influence', but they are not slaves and have no fewer rights than the other designations. Also, Sam is the eldest Winchester brother in this story, because reasons. ;)No posting schedule; expect new chapters when you see them! Any artwork is mine. Comments requested, please!Obviously, I don't own Supernatural, just the twisted plotline of this story. ;)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 3





	1. Gossip

Sister Mary Elizabeth was seated on the low garden wall, watching the children from the orphanage playing on the few outside benches and toys present for that purpose, keeping an eye on all of them, but especially L.D., who was a little frail and clumsy, and prone to falling and bruising easily. After a while, she was joined by Sister Mary Catherine, a new novice nun who had recently joined the order.

“S’ter.”

“S’ter. Have a seat. Are you going to be working with the children, too, then?” Mary Elizabeth asked.

Mary Catherine nodded. “So I’ve been told by the Reverend Mother. I’m a little nervous about it, I’m an only child, raised alone, schooled at home. I don’t know much about other children, or what to do to help them.”

“Ah. Well, mostly, you just need to give them a little love, and watch to be sure they don’t kill themselves accidentally.” Mary Elizabeth’s openly teasing tone made Mary Catherine smile softly.

“Should we be… engaging in levity? I thought that was discouraged.”

“Oh, well, it is, but we’re allowed to be friendly to the children, and you kind of have to have a sense of humor to handle them, so we won’t get into trouble for it.” Mary Elizabeth pointed to a little girl playing near some flowers in the garden a little ways down the wall from where they were seated. “That’s Bela. Her parents died in a car accident about a year ago. She hasn’t spoken since. She’s an heiress, and there’s supposedly an aunt, but no one can find her, so she was sent here. I try to give her extra hugs when no one’s looking. I think she’s been through some things, not just the accident, but something else, but no one knows, and she’s not saying.”

“Is there something wrong with her voice, her throat?” Mary Catherine asked.

“No, the doctors say she’s simply choosing not to speak. Probably from trauma. When she wants to, when she has something she wants to say, she will.” Mary Elizabeth pointed to L.D. “That’s L.D. He’s a little frail and clumsy, so I try to keep an eye on him; he tends to fall, and then he bruises easily. Never cries, though. And he tries his hardest to help to take care of the other children. He’s such a sweet boy.”

“What’s his story? How did he come to be here? Do you know? Can you tell me?” Mary Catherine wanted to know more about the children she’d be helping to raise, and she did have a soft spot for young things - kittens, puppies - so she felt drawn to the tykes.

“Oh, well. L.D.’s story’s a bit infamous, because his father raised a real ruckus when he dropped him off, in the middle of the night, his two other children in tow in the car.”

“What? L.D.’s not an orphan? Why is he here, then?”

Mary Elizabeth nodded. “Because his father told the Reverend Mother than if she didn’t take him in, he was going to take L.D. out to the dumpster behind the diner, put him in it, and put a bullet in his head. Said he didn’t take kindly to weak things, and he’d just had his boys tested, and wouldn’t have a frail child destined to be an omega bitch corrupting his other two sons.”

“No!”

Mary Elizabeth nodded again. “To tell you the whole story, I’d have to tell you all of what L.D.’s father said that night, and it’s probable that we don’t have time just now. I’ll tell you the whole thing, I will, but we’ll have to spread it out over the course of a few days, talking out in the garden like this, where the children can’t hear, and the other sisters won’t. Reverend Mother doesn’t like gossip, but you need to know the histories of the children you’re working with, particularly the more traumatized ones like Bela and L.D., so you don’t accidentally make them worse. So if we’re asked, that’s what I’m telling you about, you understand?”

Mary Catherine crossed herself quickly, but nodded. “I understand.”

“Good. Now then, that boy there, that’s Benny. His parents owned a small fleet of fishing boats, they were out on the ocean when a sudden squall came up and swamped them; they drowned. So Benny came to us. He’s a sweet boy, quiet, keeps to himself, mostly, but he can get a little cocky sometimes.”

Mary Catherine allowed herself a wan smile. “I think little boys should be a little cocky sometimes. It’s good for them to have confidence.”

“Indeed.” Mary Elizabeth smiled as well. She pointed to a young girl playing in the sand pile. “That’s Jo. Her full name is Joanna Beth, but everyone just calls her Jo, except for Reverend Mother, when she’s in trouble.”

“Why is she here? What happened to her parents?”

“Well, her father is dead. And her mother… well, her mother is Reverend Mother.”

“What?” Mary Catherine was shocked.

Mary Elizabeth laughed. “It’s not like that. Reverend Mother was married, and her husband died not long after Jo was born. He had owned a bar, which she had expected would become hers, as she had helped run it; she thought she’d just continue to run it on her own. But, it turned out, her husband had been in a lot of debt when he died, unbeknownst to her, and the bar had to be sold. She then had no means of income, so she joined the order to have a place for both her and Jo, and then she just worked her way up. You’ve met Reverend Mother. She’s brisk, efficient, hard-working, smart. Organized. Used to taking care of things, and working hard. She rose through the ranks of the convent quickly, and became elevated to her current position a year ago, when the former head of the order died.”

“I see.” Mary Catherine was fascinated; she was young, innocent, a bit naive, and had never contemplated any life but that of a religious. Coming to the order later in life, after having been married, having children, being widowed, was not something she had ever imagined, but hearing the Reverend Mother’s story, she could see it.

“There’s this gruff old guy who owns a salvage yard outside of town, Singer Salvage. He works on the vehicles owned by the convent and the parish for free, as part of his own personal charity work. He knew Reverend Mother when she owned the bar, still calls her Ellen when he comes to do the vehicle maintenance each month. Only calls her ‘Reverend Mother’ when he’s teasing her about something.” Mary Elizabeth grinned. Bobby Singer’s visits were a monthly semi-scandal among the nuns.

Mary Catherine pointed to a little boy playing with a toy truck, and asked, “And him? What’s his story?”

“Ah. That is Castiel. He and his brothers were brought here when their father disappeared a few years back. The older boys aren’t out here, they’re in class; there are five of them, besides Castiel. All of them named for angels. And for the most part, they live up to it.”

“For the most part? What does that mean?” Mary Catherine was confused.

“Well, the boys are named, in order of age, Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, Gabriel, Balthazar, and Castiel. Lucifer found out about his namesake about a year ago, and decided to … live down to expectations, shall we say? He doesn’t really mean any harm, but he pulls pranks meaning to be funny, but they sometimes go wrong. No one gets hurt, at least not physically, but there have been a few tears now and then. Gabriel plays pranks, too, but his are always just for fun, and to make people laugh; he’s a little trickster, that one. Michael, as the oldest, is protective of the others, and a little fierce. Raphael’s a caretaker, he’ll probably grow up to be a doctor; he’s smart enough, and he’s always interested in learning about first aid and such. And Balthazar… well. He’s a little odd, but very sweet. And then there’s Castiel. The other brothers call him ‘Cassie’ and they baby him a bit. He’s a little stiff, misses his father dearly, but he gets along with the other children well enough.”

Mary Elizabeth heard the start of the bells ringing for Sext, and knew it was time to take the children in to lunch. She stood and smoothed her habit. “It’s time for lunch, so we’ll get them inside.” She eyed the sky a moment. “Looks like it might rain this afternoon, so we’ll have to organize something for them to do indoors later. Maybe story time. Do you read aloud well? Act a story out?”

Mary Catherine looked surprised. “I… I’ve never thought about it. I could try, I suppose.”

Mary Elizabeth nodded. “Story time, then naps, I think. Then I’ll be able to tell you a bit more about L.D. while they’re sleeping.” She called to the children. “All right, children, it’s time to go in now, for lunch. Please line up, quickly, quickly!”

The children put their toys down and obediently came over to get in line to go inside.

“We have a new Sister today, she’ll be helping me to take care of you from now on. Boys and girls, this is Sister Mary Catherine. Can you welcome her, please?”

A chorus of young voices rang out with, “Welcome, S’ter Mary Catherine!”

“Hello, children,” Sister Mary Catherine responded, smiling softly.

“S’ter, why don’t you lead them in, and I’ll follow to watch for stragglers? You know how to get to the cafeteria, right?”

Mary Catherine nodded, and turned to lead the children indoors. L.D., first in the line of boys, slipped his hand into hers, and she looked down, surprised, but then smiled as he smiled up at her, his big green eyes and freckled face shining up at her. 

“Will you be my friend, S’ter?” he asked, and her heart melted.

“Of course I will. What’s your name, then?” she asked, not wanting the child to know they’d been talking about all of them.

“I’m L.D. It’s a pleasure to make your ac..quaintance, S’ter Mary Catherine.” He stumbled a little over the big word, but looked so proud of it, that Mary Catherine had to hide her grin.

“Yours, as well, L.D. Well, sir, shall we go inside?”

“Yep. I’m hungry! I hope they have pie today.” L.D. rubbed his belly with his free hand, and Mary Catherine’s grin grew a little too big to hide.

“Me too. I like pie,” she told the child.

“Oh! Well, you’d better not eat mine!” L.D. laughed, and it was infectious.

Mary Catherine’s heart seemed to stop, swelling with affection for this sweet and easy-going child. How, she wondered, could his own father have ever abandoned him? Threatened to kill him? It made no sense to her. She wanted to hear the rest of L.D.’s story. But for now, she swung their joined hands, and took the hand of the first girl in line, Bela, with her other hand. Bela gave her a shy smile. She led the children into the building to go to the cafeteria to eat.

***


	2. A Dark and Stormy Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sister Mary Elizabeth and Sister Mary Catherine put the children down for naps after lunch, then head to the staff lounge, where Mary Elizabeth continues to tell L.D.'s story to her new sister.

After lunch, the children were taken by the Sisters to their dormitory, where they laid down for nap time. Sister Mary Elizabeth waited until the children had settled, then led Sister Mary Catherine out a side door and down the hall to a staff lounge.

“This used to be a high school. Many of the rooms have been repurposed, but they never got around to changing things in here.” Mary Elizabeth went over to the cabinets that lined the wall, opened a drawer, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, and two chocolate bars. “Want?” she asked.

“Um. No, thank you.” Mary Catherine looked uncomfortable.

“It’s not a sin to have a bite of chocolate now and then.” Mary Elizabeth grinned, but when she saw that Mary Catherine was truly uncomfortable with the notion, she put the items back in the drawer, and closed it with a soft sigh. “All right, then. C’mon, have a seat.”

Mary Elizabeth led Mary Catherine over to a table, and they each got settled. “So, I promised to tell you L.D.’s story.”

“Yes. I’d like to hear it, he seems like such a sweet child, I can’t imagine someone abandoning him.”

Mary Elizabeth nodded. “Not to be facetious, but it really was a dark and stormy night. About a year ago, shortly after Reverend Mother was promoted, about 2:00 AM, everyone could hear a slightly mistimed engine clicking loudly as it pulled up to the front door, and, a few seconds later, someone banging on the door. I was on door duty that week - you’ll have to do it eventually, too, we take turns - so I went to answer it. As the door opened, a man in a leather jacket almost fell into the front hallway; he’d been leaning on the door as he banged on it with his whole arm. And behind him was a pale, thin, fragile child, on a leash.”

“A leash?” Mary Catherine was horrified.

“Yes. Collar around his neck, hands cuffed and attached to the collar, leash attached to the collar as well, and the man yanked on the collar to pull him into the front hallway as well. The child stumbled on the doorstep, but luckily caught himself before he could fall down. I looked out at the car - a big, black muscle car, from the late 60s or early 70s - and saw two other children sitting in the back seat, but I couldn’t make out any details through the rain beyond that.

“The man barely looked at me, just demanded that I get the Reverend Mother. She heard, of course; she hadn’t waited to be summoned, and so she was just on the other side of the door to her office off the front hallway, and she stepped out. I shrank back and sat on a bench against the wall, and I think they both forgot that I was there, frankly. As a result, I heard the whole thing. I’m fairly sure the man was drunk, but his words were clear, and I’ll never forget them.

“‘Hello, John,’ Reverend Mother said, as if she knew the man. ‘What’s all this, now?’

“‘Ellen, you gotta take him. I can’t do it. I can barely handle the other two. I can’t handle this one, as well.’

“‘Now, you know how badly Mary wanted another child, El. You were her best friend. But what you don’t know is that the regular fertility clinic said they couldn’t help her. She was desperate; she’d had Sammy, but she wanted another, wanted a girl, and we’d tried so often. She’d had six miscarriages in three years, always in the early term, usually the second month. So, she went to Dr. Robert - he hadn’t lost his license yet, then - and he made up some kind of fertility cocktail, of alpha semen, from me, and from others, mixed with a bunch of different fertility drugs, and God only knows what else, and he had her stay at the clinic for a week, getting hourly injections until a pregnancy test came back positive.

“‘Then he had her stay on bedrest at home for the whole first trimester, to make sure it really took hold, that she didn’t miscarry. And in the sixth month, he did an ultrasound, and told her she was having twins. Mary was over the moon, kept saying something about how “the deal was worth it, John!” and talking about how excited she was.

“‘In the eighth month, she got sick. She lost a lot of weight, couldn’t keep hardly anything down. So, back to bed she went. And at the end of the eighth month, her water broke on her way to the bathroom. I rushed her to the hospital, and the twins were born. Dean came out first, large, healthy, bawling, and perfect. Then this one. They had to operate, and fought like hell to get it out of her. Frail, fragile, barely weighed fourteen ounces soaking wet. Had to be put in an incubator in the NICU. Even Dr. Robert thought maybe it should just be put down, but Mary wouldn’t hear of it. Then, as she fed Dean for the first time, I was holding her hand, and she just… let go. And she was gone. Bled out internally.

“‘I tried, Ellen. For Mary’s sake, I tried. But I could barely stand to look at it. Dean, now, he was strong and healthy and grew like a weed. But the contrast was impossible for me. I hated thinking about it, the thing that had killed my wife, its own mother. When they finally discharged it from the NICU, I almost didn’t go to pick it up. But Sammy wanted to go to get his “other brother” and bring him home. I couldn’t bring myself to give it a name. I thought of it as a lesser Dean, and somehow it went from being a lesser Dean, to being “Lesser Dean,” to being just “L.D.” And finally, one day, Sammy asked me what its name was, and I muttered, “L.D.,” and that was that. Sammy tried to help take care of it, but I can’t make Sam be the parent I’m not, or the parent Mary’s not here to be, Ellen, it’s not fair to Sam. And I just can’t take care of it myself.’

“‘Why not, John? What’s so hard about taking care of a third boy?’ Reverend Mother asked.

“‘Just look at him, Ellen! Frail, fragile, always falling down and getting hurt. Bruises all over him, some from nothing harder than a damn gust of wind.’

“‘Frailty is no excuse for abandoning a child, John Winchester.’

“‘No? Well, how about _this_ then? I had the boys _tested_ , Ellen. They can do it as early as three years old, now. _I know right now how they’ll all present_. Dean’s an alpha, Sam’s a beta. But this one, here? _Omega bitch_ . You know how _they_ get, Ellen - needy, clingy, seductive, manipulative, its biology ruling it's mind and body until it can’t help itself, and then it'll reach out to its siblings for a way to satisfy its urges. I won’t have this one around to corrupt the other two.’

“‘He won’t present for years, John. He’s what, now, _three_? Thirteen years until there’s any danger of him acting remotely like that. And won’t _Dean_ miss his twin, John? Think of how separating them will affect Dean,’ Reverend Mother urged, but he wasn’t having any of it.

“‘No. I won’t raise this one, Ellen, I won’t do it. I won’t have Dean taking care of it, I won’t have Sam wasting his time on it. I won’t come home every day with baited breath, waiting for the day this one tries to seduce Dean because it’s in heat and its biology just won’t let it go. No. I won’t do it, Ellen. If you won’t take it, I’ll take it out back of the diner, to their oversized dumpster, and I swear to you, I will put a bullet in its brain.’

“‘John Winchester! You’d never harm a child!’

“‘I’m telling you to your face, Ellen, _this_ child, this child that killed its mother, _my wife_ , I would. I won’t have it in my home any more. You take it in, or to the dumpster I go with it, Ellen, I swear to Christ on all that’s Holy, I’ll do it.’

“I could see from Reverend Mother’s face that she believed him, and I could see the second she gave in. ‘All right, John. We’ll take him. But you’ll have to pay for his maintenance.’

“‘I don’t have much to spare, Ellen, and I still have the other two to raise, but I’ll send what I can, when I can. I swear that to you. I’ll be on the road quite a bit, it’ll be hard to reach me, but I’ll check in with you now and then, when I can, to make sure that it’s still alive and payment remains necessary.’ I could see that he didn’t mean it, that we’d likely never hear another word nor get a dime from him, and what’s more, I could see that Reverend Mother knew it, too.

“‘You’re an idjit. And a hard, cold man, John Winchester. May God have mercy on your soul for abandoning your own child. For shame. I can’t even imagine what Mary would think of this. But yes, we’ll take him in, and we’ll raise him and take care of him.’

‘Then he tried to hand Reverend Mother the handle to the child’s leash, but she dropped it like it had burned her hand. He shrugged, turned away, and walked out the door, into the storm, back to the car and his other two kids. And from that day to this, just as I suspected that night, we’ve not seen nor heard from him. Not a red cent has he contributed to L.D.’s maintenance, and never has he once checked to see how L.D. fares. Once he’d dropped him off here, he simply forgot the child’s existence.”

Mary Catherine looked horrified. “That… that’s awful. That poor child. He doesn’t even have his own name, his initials stand for “lesser Dean” - the lesser of two twins. That man was no father to that boy. It’s better he’s here.”

Mary Elizabeth nodded. “Indeed.”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment! Let me know what you think! Thanks! ;)


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